Network servers, such as web servers, normally receive requests for information from remote client computers over a network, such as the Internet or an intranet. For example, the requests for information may be HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) “POST” or “GET” requests that are transmitted by a web browser on a client computer when a user submits a query to a web server. Network servers may transmit information to the client computer in response to the request. The transmitted information may be data such as a web page that is formatted in the HyperText Markup Language (HTML), promulgated by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The transmitted information may also be an executable that is, for example, written in the JAVA™ programming language, by Sun Microsystems Inc. A JAVA™ interpreter on the client computer may execute such an executable.
It is sometimes necessary to transmit an executable to the client computer along with data that is to be processed on the client computer by the executable. For example, a web server may respond to a request for flight itineraries by sending the flight itinerary data along with a JAVA™ applet for graphically displaying the data.